United Nations, Sep 14 (PTI) UN chief Antonio
Guterres has called for a political solution to the current
situation in the Korean peninsula, which has worsened in
recent months in the wake of series of ballistic missile and
nuclear tests by Pyongyang.

"The solution can only be political. Military action
could cause devastation on a scale that would take generations
to overcome," Guterres said.

Noting that nuclear and missile tests by the North Korea
have created great instability and tension on the Korean
peninsula, throughout the region and beyond, the UN Secretary
General said unity in the Security Council is critical.

This week's unanimous adoption of a new resolution by the
Security Council sends a clear message that North Korea must
comply fully with its international obligations, he said and
called on all member states to ensure the full implementation
of this and other relevant Security Council resolutions.

"But Security Council unity also creates an opportunity
for diplomatic engagement an opportunity that must be
seized," Guterres said.

Meanwhile in an interview to Atlantic Council, a top
American think-tank, Nicholas Burns, a former top American
diplomat said that the new sanctions imposed by UN Security
Council on North Korea are not enough.

"The sanctions are a step forward, but they are not
significant enough. It is disappointing that Russia and China
will not agree to tougher sanctions because that is what is
required," he said.

"We are in a new and dangerous phase of the crisis
following the apparent hydrogen bomb test and also the
ballistic missile firing by North Korea over Hokkaido," Burns
said.

"The world community has got to take stronger actions
against North Korea to convince the North Koreans to freeze
their nuclear program and agree to negotiations to try to
diminish this crisis," he said.

Noting that the Chinese have a direct interest here, he
said, but they are hesitating in deepening their own leverage
and coercion against North Korea.

"It may be that China worries that a dissolution of the
North Korean regime could lead to a flow of North Korean
refugees into China, " Burns said.

"It is certainly true that the Chinese worry that any
kind of crisis that could weaken or destroy North Korea and
could lead to the unification of the Korean Peninsula with its
capital in Seoul a country that is aligned with the United
States is not in China's interests," he said.